Day 26 of 99 Days to FASDay: Stop the Stigma

Background:

Stigma aﬀects not only the person with a stigmatizing condition such as fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD), but also their family members. This study examined whether there are stigmatizing attitudes about biological mothers of children with FASD in a crowdsourced sample.

Conclusions:

Results supported the notion that mothers of children with FASD are highly stigmatized for their past behavior. The data also suggested that the public might discriminate against this population. Stigma reduction interventions should focus on contact-based strategies, rather than education-based strategies.

There is a lack of knowledge about the factors that contribute to stigma for FASD individuals and how it impacts their lives in spite of the potential harm of stigma in this population (e.g., undermining the development of and access to healthcare services).

We proposed a descriptive model of stigma structured around:

(i) personal responsibility and blame towards biological mothers;

(ii) felt and enacted stigma experienced by children and their families;

(iii) anticipated life trajectories for individuals with FASD.

To address potential biases in clinical practices, there is a need to incorporate training about FASD prevention, diagnosis, interventions and lifespan trajectory in professional education, including physicians and nurses, mental health and addictions workers, educators, justice system, social workers and others to increase knowledge and understanding of the complex socio-demographic factors that surround FASD.